


No Tongue With Butt

by mikeysdaniel



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Ashton Irwin - Freeform, Calum Hood - Freeform, Calum hood/ ashton irwin - Freeform, Cashton, Fluff, Luke Hemmings - Freeform, M/M, Michael Clifford - Freeform, Muke - Freeform, No tongue with butt, Sleepy Cuddles, Smut, michael clifford/ Luke hemmings, rain storm, there may be some cashton later idk yet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-27
Updated: 2015-10-31
Packaged: 2018-04-06 09:38:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 17,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4216749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikeysdaniel/pseuds/mikeysdaniel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Luke's brothers drag him to a party where he is forced to play spin the bottle with a bunch of kids including Michael Clifford, who hates his guts. </p><p>This is the story behind "no tongue with butt" from a recent 5sos interview.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry I suck at descriptions

Luke sighed as he looked in the mirror. His brothers were dragging him to some party. He had no clue what to wear. Will his usual skinny jeans and band tee shirts be acceptable for a party? He didn't know. He had never gone to a party in his life before. Let alone any type of social event. Sure he had a small group of friends, but he only really spent time with them in school. How was he going to survive a full night of socializing?

Once he decided his Nirvana tee shirt would do, he started messing with his hair. Just as he was about to give up, Jack, his older brother, walked into his room. Upon seeing Luke attempting to do his hair, Jack reached over and grabbed a snapback off Luke's desk, and tossed it to him. "Thanks," Luke mumbled and followed Jack out of the room. 

When the boys arrived at the party, Luke was tempted to steal Ben's keys and drive the car home. He didn't even care that didn't know how to drive a car. But he figured dying in a car accident would be better than dying of embarrassment in front of countless people. When Jack saw the look of terror on Luke's face, he opened the car door and dragged Luke from it, and all the way to the front door of the house. Luke had no clue where he was, and no clue how to survive the night. 

It was deafening inside the house. There were lights flashing and music blaring. Luke turned to ask Ben what he should do, but Ben had already disappeared into the crowd. Jack too was no where to be found. Anxiety began to was over Luke, so he walked to a couch and sat down on it, hoping to wait out the night in this very spot. He had no intention of moving. 

After about 30 minutes of scrolling through social media apps on his phone, a person flopped onto the couch next to him. Luke flinched immediately, really not in the mood to talk. He looked up, and his eyes meet a familiar pair of brown ones. Calum Hood. Luke sighed in relief. He knew Calum well enough, they were in the same music class and sometimes played guitar together. 

"Hey Luke," Calum giggled, "didn't know you were coming tonight."

"Hey, yeah my brothers dragged me." Luke responded, he had to yell over the loud music so that Calum could hear him. 

Calum began to stand up, and Luke thought the conversation was over, but then Calum was reaching down and grabbing Luke's hand, pulling him to his feet. 

"We're playing spin the bottle!"Calum yelled. "You're playing too."

This was the last thing Luke wanted to do. But he really didn't have a choice since Calum was pulling him to a circle of kids sitting on the floor. He began to sit and pulled Luke down next to him. 

"Guys I brought Luke!" Calum told to group. A handful of the kids looked over and smiled at him. Luke awkwardly smiled back. He was going to hit Calum over the head with his guitar at the first possible opportunity. 

Calum stood up from the group, causing Luke to have a slight heart attack. Was Calum really going to leave him right now? But soon enough Calum was sitting right back down, and Luke realized that he had gone to turn the music down. He could now actually hear what the people around him were saying. As more and more people gathered into the circle, Luke began to look around. He recognized a lot of the kids from his school, but there were countless others he had never seen before. 

Calum began explaining the rules, and Luke brought his eyes back to the boy. On the other side of Calum, he caught a glimpse of bright pink hair. "Shit," Luke thought to himself. There's only one kid Luke knew with hair like that. Michael Clifford. Luke started to think of a way to get out of the circle. There was no way he was going to play a game with Michael Clifford. 

Since the beginning of year 9, Michael had done everything in his power to make Luke's life a living hell. From dirty looks to insults to name calling, Michael had done it all. Luke should have known Michael would be here. Michael is Calum's best friend. Of course he would be here, of course he would be sitting next to Calum. When Calum first started talking to Luke, Luke was convinced it was all a plan of Michael's. He thought there was a catch. Luke figured Calum was going to turn against him or something, seeing as he was Michael's closest friend. It took weeks of talking and guitar playing before Luke realized that while Michael was an ass, Calum was pretty chill. Well until he pulled Luke into this mess. 

Luke had no escape. He was sitting next to Calum, so there was no way he could just slip away unnoticed. "This can't be that bad," he repeated to himself over and over. 

Calum had finally finished going over the rules, which Luke thought was pretty pointless because it's spin the bottle, and every living teenager on earth knows how to play it. 

"Alright kids, I'm going first!" Calum excitingly exclaimed. Calum grabbed the empty beer bottle and spun it. The bottle gradually stopped, and it ended up pointed at some girl Luke had seen around at school. Calum smiled slyly, pointed to the girl, and then motioned for her to come over. The girl giggled and worked her way across the circle. Once she reached Calum, she sat down on her knees next to him, learned over and gave Calum a quick kiss on the lips. She began to pull away, and Calum reached up and pulled her back in. Encouraged by Calum's invitation, she opened her lips, wrapped her fingers in Calum's hair, and pulled the boy closer. Everyone in the circle sat stunned for a few moments, before Michael started clapping his hand loudly, yelling out words of encouragement to Calum. Luke rolled his eyes. Honestly, Luke thought, does the kid ever shut up?

Eventually, Calum and the girl broke apart, and Calum looked around the circle and said, "I'd like to see someone do better than that." He was clearly trying to make this game interesting. Of course, Michael was ready to one up Calum. Everything was always a contest between those two, and this wasn't any different. 

Michael looked Calum in the eyes, grabbed the bottle off the ground, and boldly exclaimed, "Watch me."  
Michael spun the bottle, and Luke silently prayed it would land anywhere but facing him. When the bottle stopped, Luke thought his heart stopped too. The top of it was facing directly towards him, there was no getting out of it. 

Luke looked up at Michael, thinking that his life was about to end. Michael was laughing while the bottle was spinning, but as soon as it stopped and he met Luke's eyes, his smiled faltered and a strange look that Luke could only assume was annoyance passed over his face. Quickly, though, he recovered his emotions. He wouldn't give up on a challenge against Calum, no matter who he had to kiss. 

Calum watched Michael with worry in his eyes, he knew this situation could not possible end well. He placed a hand on Luke's shoulder and whispered, "Good luck," in his ear. 

Michael stood up, walked to Luke, and pulled the boy to his feet. Luke was very much freaking out on the inside, but he worked to keep his facial expression bored. He wouldn't let Michael know how utterly scared he was. He wouldn't give Michael that joy. Michael slowly placed a hand on Luke's hip, and then brushed his knuckles along Luke's cheek. Luke shuddered, and then silently cursed himself for showing Michael any reaction. Michael laughed quietly, and Luke could see how much he was enjoying Luke's discomfort. 

Before Luke even knew what was happening, Michael moved his hand from Luke's cheek to the back of his neck, and pulled the blonde boy to him. Michael's lips met Luke's, and every piece of common sense left Luke's head. In the back of his head Luke knew he was kissing the one kid he hated most on the earth, but honestly, Michael's lips were nice. They were warm and soft, and Luke realized he really liked kissing them. 

Michael ran his hand through Luke's hair and used the hand which was still on Luke's hip to pull him closer. Luke parted his lips, expecting Michael's tongue to meet his, but then Michael was pulling away. Luke was disappointed for a moment, but Michael leaned his head to the side and started to kiss Luke's neck. He found a spot that made Luke gasp, and began sucking with extra force. Luke knew he should be mad about Michael leaving a mark, but he pushed the thought from his mind. 

Just as Luke thought Michael would be done abusing his neck, Michael untangled his hand from Luke's hand and dragged in down Luke's back, leaving it to rest on Luke's butt. 

Luke was surprised by this, and ran his hand through Michael's hair, encouraging him. Michael squeezed Luke's ass, then smacked it playfully, making Luke giggle. He moved both his hands to Luke's ass, then whispered in Luke's ear, "Jump."

At this point Michael could have told Luke to get naked, and Luke would have willingly done so. He was so far gone. The only thing he could think about was Michael. So when Michael told him to jump, Luke did. Michael grabbed the bottom of Luke's thighs as Luke wrapped his legs around Michael's waste. Michael made his way through the teenagers who were now staring open mouthed at the scene unfolding in front of them. 

Michael carried Luke over to a wall, and pushed his back against it. Luke leaned in and started working on Michael's neck, and Michael took the opportunity and ran his hands over Luke's ass. He had Luke held up by the wall, so he could use both hands to grope Luke's butt. He squeezed it, smacked it, and pinched it. Luke thought he was going to pass out, it felt so good. 

Luke rocked his hips down onto Michael's crotch, and Michael hissed. Both boys were completely hard now, and Luke needed some relief. Just as Luke was about to do it again, Michael grabbed Luke's thighs, and pushed Luke away, placing the blonde boy on his feet. 

Slowly Luke's mind worked its way back to the present, and he began to remember where he was. A party. 

"So how was that Calum?" Michael cockily asked as he turned away from Luke and back towards the circle of kids who were still in disbelief at what they just witnessed. 

Calum stared a moment longer, and then got himself together. "Well Michael... I think I just saw some really hot no tongue with butt action. And yeah. You definitely just one upped me."

All of a sudden Luke remembered that Michael only kissed him for the sack of beating Calum in some stupid game. He felt like an idiot. He made a connection with Michael during that kiss, but Michael clearly did not do the same. 

Michael turned back to Luke and said, "What's wrong Blondie? Stunned by my skills?" Luke could feel the resentment seep through Michael's words, and he felt his heart break and his face slowly heat up. He refused to let Michael have this victory, so he held his head high and replied, "Yeah if you mean lack of skill." Michael gave Luke a dark look before sitting back in his spot. Luke too returned to his place on the other side of Calum. 

Luke made himself hold back the tears for the rest of the game. As soon as people began losing interest, Luke saw his chance and hopped out of the circle. He found Ben, who was hanging out with some of his older friends, and pulled him to the side. 

"Can we go?" Luke asked him. He was beginning to fall apart. Ben took one look at his brother, and pulled him out of the house and towards the car. 

Once they were both in in the car, Ben turned to him and looked like he was going to ask Luke something, but then decided against it. "I'm just going to text Jack and tell him we're leaving." Ben told him. Luke could only nod. He put his head against the window, and tears began to run down his cheek. 

"You okay little dude?" Ben worriedly asked him. Luke chocked out a quiet "No." Ben looked lost for words, and instead of saying anything else, he started the car and pulled away from the house. 

After Ben parked the car in the driveway, he got out of the car, and walked over to Luke's door. He opened it, and put his hand under Luke's arm, and helped his younger brother into their house, and up to his room. Luke quickly threw on some sweats and and old tee shirt and crawled into his bed. 

Ben began to leave Luke's room once he had seen that Luke had successfully gotten himself in bed, but Luke called out for him to come over. Ben went to Luke's bed, and Luke grabbed his arm and pulled him towards him. 

By this time, Luke was full on hysterical. He was crying, completely losing it. Ben's heart fell apart at the sight of his brother, and he sat down on Luke's bed and pulled the smaller boy into his arms. Luke was curled into a ball, and Ben wrapped his arm protectively around him. Ben rubbed his hands on Luke's arms, whispering sweat nothings in his ear. 

Eventually Luke fell asleep like that, and Ben tucked him into his covers, turned off the lights, and quietly left the room.


	2. Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is short I just wanted to include this little part

CHAPTER TWO

When Luke woke up in the morning, he had a few peaceful moments before everything that had happened the night before came crashing back on him. How could he have been so stupid? How could he have let Michael take advantage of him like that? The more Luke thought about it, the more he realized that he was so angry because he enjoyed it. Way too much. He hated Michael, and now he hated him even more for making him feel these things. 

Luke had zero motivation to get up and do anything that day. Around 11 a.m. Jack came in to check on Luke. "Buddy I think you should get up," he said hesitantly, trying to gauge Luke's emotions. In response, Luke wrapped himself up in his blankets, and refused to move. Jack moved over to Luke's bed and sat down beside the bundle of blankets. 

Jack reached over and pulled the blankets away from Luke's face. "Luie, Ben told me about last night. He said you were a mess... Wanna talk about it?" Luke groaned and pulled the blankets back over him. 

While Luke didn't want to talk to either of his brothers about the incident at the party, he would rather talk to Jack. Jack was closer in age to Luke than Ben was. Luke loved both his brothers, but he always felt like he could tell Jack anything. 

After a few silent minutes, Luke peeked out over the covers and looked at Jack. "...played spin the bottle last night..." Luke murmured so quietly Jack almost missed it. 

Jack felt the worry creep into him, he knew Luke wasn't one for social gatherings, let alone kissing people he didn't really know. Cautiously he asked, "And....?" 

Luke looked away from Jack's eyes and whispered, "I... Uh. Kissedaboy." Luke spoke quickly because he knew it was the only way he was going to get it out. 

Jack was confused. "Yeah but Luke it's just a game... Doesn't mean anything." Luke signed in frustration. Jack didn't understand, and Luke knew he would have to explain further. 

"What if..." Luke trailed off. He didn't know how to say it. 

"What if what Luie?" Jack asked. Luke turned his head toward the pillow. He wanted to talk to someone about it, and he knew Jack was he best bet. So he decided to go for it. 

"What if I... Uhm.... Liked it?" Luke barely whispered. 

"Well yeah it's a kiss of cours- oh. Oh I get it." Slowly Jack processed what Luke was saying. "You liked kissing the boy?" Jack emphasized the boy part to make sure he was getting everything right. 

"Uhhh yeah I did..." Luke answered. He couldn't tell what Jack's reaction to this new info was so he looked over at his older brother. Jack had a smirk on his face and he was looking at Luke with a fond expression. 

"Well Luie, I love you no matter what and I know our whole family does too. So no matter whose throat you want to stick your tongue down I say go get some." Jack was laughing now and he wrapped his arms around Luke and the bundle of blankets covering him. 

Just as Jack started to get up from Luke's bed, Luke reached up and grabbed his arm. "Wait," Luke began, "There's something else too."

"Yes Luke?" Jack asked as he sat back down. 

"The boy... Uh... It was Michael." Luke didn't even have to elaborate on a last name because he knew Jack would know exactly who he was talking about.

"MICHAEL CLIFFORD. THAT LITTLE FUCK." Jack jumped off the bed and started screaming about how much he hates the pink haired boy. "WHO THE ACTUAL HELL DOES HE THINK HE IS. HE CAN'T TREAT MY LITTLE BROTHER LIKE ABSOLUTE SHIT AND THEN GO MAKING OUT WITH HIM AFTER!" 

"Jack calm down and please stop yelling or else everyone in the family is going to know I might like dudes before I can even tell them myself. And didn't you just say it was 'just a game'?" 

"That was before I found out that the fucking devil made out with- wait..." Jack stopped his rant and looked over at Luke. "You liked making out with Michael. Michael Clifford? Am I hearing this right?"

"Uhhh yeah." Luke knew Jack wouldn't be able to understand that part of the story cause he didn't even understand it himself. He was confused and scared and angry about the whole kissing Michael and liking it thing and he didn't know what to do about it. "Can you just uh... Leave me alone for a bit? To like.. I don't know figure this out of something?" Luke quietly asked Jack. 

"Of course Luie. If you need anything or want to talk about it more or something just ask. Alright little dude?" Jack smiled at Luke as he go off the bed and made his way out of Luke's room, closing the door behind him. 

As soon as Jack was gone, Luke flopped back down on his bed and wrapped himself in the sheets again. He didn't realize it before, but he noticed now that he was shaking. He was so confused and mad, and he didn't really know why. It was just a game, right? Luke could feel the tears beginning to form in his eyes, and he curled himself into a ball and cried himself to sleep. Sleeping was easier than thinking about Michael Clifford and his soft pink lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's what brothers are for right?


	3. Three

CHAPTER THREE  
Luke spent the rest of the day in his bed. And the next. And the one after that too. When Monday morning came, Liz, Luke's mom, came into his room and told him to get up. 

"Luke. Luie. Please get up. Just go to school. That's all I'm asking." Liz pleaded with Luke. There was nothing she could do, Luke simply refused to get up. There was no way in hell he was going to show up at school. It was the one place he knew he would see Michael. 

With a frustrated sigh Liz left Luke's room. She couldn't wait around all day waiting for Luke to get up, she had to go to work. 

A few hours after Liz left, Luke sat up in his bed. He wasn't planning on going to school, but he was sick of smelling like a dying animal. He swung his legs over the side of his bed, and hopped to the floor. He stumbled as his feet hit the ground, he hadn't stood up in nearly three days. He dragged himself to the bathroom, and turned on the shower. 

Luke had been avoiding the shower for a while now because it's the place he does all of his thinking. And Luke really didn't want to think. He wanted to forget everything that happened Friday night. He wanted to block it all out of his mind. But no matter how hard Luke tried, he couldn't stop thinking of the party and Michael Clifford's beautiful minty green eyes. 

Luke was so mad at himself. Why couldn't he just get over it? It was a game. A stupid kiss. Michael was trying to one up Calum. That's all it was. Nothing special. Luke kept telling himself that it didn't mean anything. He knew that when he went back to school everything would be the same. Michael would still be an ass and Calum would still be the middle man trying to make peace between the two. Luke knew Calum's efforts were pointless. Michael hated Luke and he would never let him forget it. 

After about an hour Luke finally got out of the shower. He threw on an old pair of sweatpants and a tee shirt. He walked to the living room, put his Mean Girls DVD in, and flopped down on the couch. While Mean Girls was his favorite movie, he had seen it so many times he could recite the whole thing from memory. 

Instead of watching the film, he let the movie fade to background noise, and pulled out his phone. He hadn't checked it since Friday, and now there were many messages waiting for replies. As Luke scrolled through them he realized the majority of them were from Calum. Actually all of them were all from Calum except for one from Jack. Luke figured that would be the easiest place to start, so he opened the message. 

From Jack: Just passed Michael in the hallway. I guess I see why you liked sucking his face so much. It's a nice face. 

Luke groaned in frustration after reading Jack's message. Luke knew Michael had a nice face, he didn't need Jack to remind him. He couldn't believe his brother sent him that. He re-read it about ten times, and then he replied with a simple "fuck you." He planned on getting Jack back tonight after he got home from his job at the local coffee shop. Luke almost regretted telling Jack about the "Michael situation." But the more he thought about it, the more he realized how comforting it was knowing that Jack was here for him. 

Luke looked at the notifications from Calum's messages. Twenty five. Calum sent him twenty five messages? The only times Calum ever texted him was to ask if they could stay after school to work on a guitar cover. After staring at his phone for a few seconds, he clicked Calum's name and began reading through the messages starting from the top. 

The first message was from Friday night, Luke figured Calum must have sent it after he snuck away from the game and left the party. 

From Calum: Where did you go dude? The party isn't over yet! 

Luke felt a little guilty for ditching Calum at the party, but then he remembered the mess of a game Calum dragged him into, and the guilt faded away. Not all of it, but most of it. 

The next message was also from Friday night, but this one was from much later. Luke figured Calum was flat out drunk by what his message said. 

From Calum: Lukeeeeeeee where are you at?? I have Mike with me. You should come make out with him again. That was soooo hot. 

Luke read the message over and over. He didn't even know what to think of it. There were a few more from Friday night, but they were all nonsense drunk texts, and none of them even resembled a coherent thought, let alone English. 

Eventually Luke came across a text from Saturday afternoon. It seemed as though Calum must have gotten over his drunkness and his hangover by this time. 

From Calum: Uh dude. Can you just ignore like all of those messages I sent last night. I'm super sorry about that. I shouldn't have said anything about that thing with Michael. Text me back when you get this please. 

Luke figured Calum had gone back through his phone and read the messages he sent about the make out session, and he was sure Calum felt really bad about it. While Michael was Calum's best friend, Calum always seemed to keep Luke's best interests in mind. 

As Luke kept scrolling through Calum's messages, he felt the guiltiness creep back into him. Luke could tell by Calum's messages that he thought Luke wasn't replying because he was mad at Calum. Honestly Luke wasn't mad at Calum, he had just been too lazy to check his phone. 

The next ten or so messages were a strange mix of apologies and questions about what songs they should cover next. Finally, Luke got to the messages that Calum had sent today. 

The first one Calum must have sent from homeroom. It was the first class they had to go to in the beginning of the day so that the school knew they were present. Because the homerooms were arranged in alphabetical order, Calum and Luke were in the same one. Hood and Hemmings were very close to each other alphabetically. 

From Calum: Luke please tell me you're coming to school today. I want to work on a new cover with you. Also I need to talk to you. Please come in. 

Luke sighed at the message, he too wanted to work on a new cover. Playing and singing guitar was he favorite thing to do, and he felt sad that he missed out today, even though he knew it was his own fault. 

The next few messages included a few apologies thrown in with some updates from school. It seemed as though nothing important happened today, except for the fact that they had a pop quiz in biology and a sub in their grammar class. Just as Luke was about to put his phone down and actually pay attention to the movie, a new message from Calum popped up. 

From Calum: Since you didn't bring your lazy ass to school today I'm coming over now. I want to work on that guitar cover... Soooo I'm coming over in 10

Luke groaned. He knew he could text Calum back and tell him not to come, but he also knew that once Calum made a decision, he wouldn't change his mind. Calum would be at Luke's house soon and there was nothing he could do about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soo what are your thoughts so far?
> 
> P.s. I promise more muke will be coming


	4. Four

CHAPTER 4  
A few minutes after Luke read Calum's message, he heard a knock on the door. He was rather comfortable sitting on the couch, so he just waited for Calum to let himself in.

Luke heard the door open and shut, and then he saw Calum's tall frame in the door way. He was in his sports clothes, so Luke figured he had just come from soccer practice. Luke couldn't really read Calum's facial expression, it was a mix between relief, anger and guilt.

"Thank god you're alive. I mean honestly would it kill you to reply to your messages?" Calum asked as he walked over and sat on the couch next to Luke.

"Sorry." Luke mumbled. He actually did feel bad for not replying to Calum, but he was still a little mad at the dark haired boy for dragging him into this mess. Luke looked back up at his forgotten movie. He thought of a plan to escape the conversation that was surely coming. "Cal, I know you want to play some covers and stuff, but you're interrupting my Mean Girls."

Calum looked up at the tv for the first time since he entered the room, as if just noticing there was a movie on. "Luke, one of your brothers once told me that you have watched this movie at least one hundred times. And at first I thought he was joking, but now," Calum paused and gestured toward the screen, "I'm pretty sure he wasn't lying."

In response Luke rolled his eyes, and continued to pretend to watch the movie. Calum poked him in the side and said, "So, what I'm saying is to turn off the tv and let's play some guitar."

Luke shrugged, grabbed the remote, and turned off the movie. He figured it was easier than trying to argue with Calum, who is stubborn and impossible to win arguments with. And he knew that if they were playing guitar, it would be hard for Calum to talk to him about the party and everything that had happened.

Luke hopped off the couch and walked toward his room, and after a moment, Calum got up too and followed him.

Once in Luke's room, Luke grabbed his favorite guitar, the [worn out one](https://twitter.com/5SOS/status/609432825125830656), and sat on his floor. He turned to Calum and said, "You can grab that guitar over there," as he pointed to an extra guitar he had leaning against the wall.

"Thanks," Calum replied as he grabbed the guitar and joined Luke on the floor. "So what song are we going to cover next?"

"Dunno," Luke said, "I haven't really thought about it yet."

"I was listening to my Blink album and I thought 'I Miss You' might be a fun one to cover?" Calum asked Luke.

"Yeah, I love that song." Luke told the brown eyed boy.

Soon the boys got right to work, figuring out the chords, memorizing the lyrics, and splitting up the singing parts between each other.

After an hour or two of working on the cover, Calum set his guitar down and looked over at Luke. "Luke... Can we talk?" Calum asked the blonde boy nervously.

"'Bout what?" Luke responded even though he knew exactly what Calum wanted to talk about.

"You know... The party last Friday?" Calum suggested. At this Luke groaned.

"I.... Uh.... Don't remember much. I was drunk." Luke tried to lie. Calum threw his head back and started to laugh.

"Yeah right Hemmings. I don't think you drank anything that night. You were anything but drunk." Calum was still laughing hard, "So you want to tell me you don't remember the game either? Haha. Yeah. Good try." Luke cringed when Calum mentioned the game. Calum noticed and stopped laughing. "Oh. Yeah. Sorry bro.... So is that what's up your ass? The reason you didn't reply to any texts?"

Luke looked down and shrugged his shoulders. "No," he answered, "Maybe? I don't know.... Ugh. Fine. Yeah, you're right."

"Luke you do know it's just a game right? Like I know Michael probably shouldn't have gone as far as he did, but it's not like it meant anything." Calum explained.

Luke groaned in frustration, maybe he actually wanted it to mean something. He stayed silent for a few more moments, trying to decide what to tell Calum and what to keep quiet about. He didn't want to freak Calum out by telling him that he might be crushing hard on Calum's asshole best friend, so he decided to give him minimal information about his feelings about the situation.

"Cal... Uh," Luke did not know how to go about this.

"What?" Calum wasn't sure what Luke was all caught up about. He wanted to understand the situation so he kept pushing forward. "Luke you can tell me anything, you know that right?"

"Yeah.... yeah. I- I think... I maybe like dudes." Luke quietly spoke. When he said it he looked down, he wasn't sure of what sure what Calum's opinion on this whole thing this would be.

"Bro you should know I won't judge you for that... I mean honestly, Michael is bisexual." Calum told him. As Calum said this Luke's head snapped up. Luke did not know this until now. "Oh shit. Uhm... I probably shouldn't have told you that. Michael prefers to tell people himself and not many people know..." Calum looked at Luke nervously.

"Uh yeah I won't say anything, I promise..." Luke answered. Michael? Bisexual? He had never really thought about Michael's sexuality because he was all caught up in his own identity crisis. At first Luke thought that was fantastic. Michael liked boys too. But the more he thought about it, the sadder he became as he remembered that Michael Clifford despised him so much.

Calum still looked confused and asked Luke, "Wait, if you like boys why were you all weird and shit after you and Mike made out?" Luke thought quietly for a few moments, considering if he should tell Calum about his Michael situation. Luckily, before Luke could answer, Calum seemed to develop an answer of his own. "Oh! Did you just discover this boy thing at the party?"

Luke jumped on Calum's idea. "Yeah... That's why I was weird after..." Luke was thankful he didn't have to elaborate. Calum's guess was actually right, it just wasn't the whole truth and cause of Luke's recent attitude and actions. "I mean... Before that sometimes I thought about it, but I had never seriously done anything with a boy before, so I didn't ever strongly consider it." Luke was glad he was saved from having to explain his feelings for Michael.

Hoping to end the conversations there, before Calum could ask more questions, Luke picked his guitar back up and said, "Want to play the song a few more times through?" Calum met his eyes, and Luke could tell that the dark haired boy knew there was something more Luke wasn't saying.

"Uh yeah... But first can I try to explain something?" Calum asked Luke. Luke groaned internally but nodded his head anyways. "Alright. So I know you and Michael don't get along... like at all. And I would assume that you think he hates you. He doesn't. I asked him about it once and he just mumbled something about not wanting to share his best friend." Calum paused for a minute to consider asking Luke what he wanted to ask. Upon seeing Luke's questioning stare he spoke, "So I was thinking, maybe if he realized how similar we all were and that you weren't trying to steal his best friend, then possibly you two could be able to get along."

Luke laughed humorlessly at Calum's suggestion. "Yeah right. We can't be in the same room together for more than five minutes before some kind of stupid argument begins."

"Ok ok I know this sounds ridiculous bu-"

"I wouldn't call this ridiculous, I would call this plan 'Death Sentence For Luke Hemmings'," Luke cut in.

"BUT," Calum continued, ignoring Luke's words, "Why not try it? I mean, it's not like you guys could hate each other anymore than you do now, right? Also, I hate to bring it up, but when you guys were making out at the party you seemed to get along just fine." Calum said. Luke hit Calum's arm in response to his statement, hoping his facial expression and blush didn't give anything away to Calum about how much he liked Michael kissing his lips and grabbing his ass.

"Fine," Luke agreed, "But good luck getting Michael to go along with this insane plan."

Calum nodded at Luke's words and said, "Leave that to me Hemmings."

The boys realized that the conversation seemed to be over, so they picked up there guitars again. "I'll try to figure out a time we can all hang out or something," Calum told Luke.

"Yeah. Okay. Just text me when you figure it out I guess." Luke replied.

"Oh yeah like you actually use your phone," Calum teased him. "Or maybe you just like to reply to everyone but me?" Calum questioned.

"No dude that's not it... I don't know but I don't really text anyone besides my brothers, I mean I don't really have that many friends so I don't need my phone very often," Luke quietly said.

"Well hey I'm your friend so you better answer your damn phone from now on," Calum chided him.

"Ok ok I will."

The boys practiced the cover a few more times before deciding to call it quits.

As Calum was leaving Luke's house he said to him, "I'm going to make a plan and text you alright? This is going to work."

Luke nodded his head at Calum, and almost beloved it himself when Calum said it with so much passion. At that, Calum walked out of Luke's house and closed the door behind him.

Luke walked over to the couch where he had spent his morning, and flopped down on it. He smiled to himself, while he would never tell Calum this, he was secretly kind of excited to see if Calum's plan worked. It would be nice to at least be friends with the beautiful pink haired boy. While Luke was excited over the possibility of being Michael's friend, he was also very nervous that this whole thing could end badly, and that Michael would continue to hate him forever. _Well it's worth a shot_ , Luke told himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also I wrote this while floating in my pool so if it's a mess I am sorry...
> 
> Tell me what you think in the comments!


	5. Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry guys this took me an unacceptable amount of time to update...

CHAPTER FIVE  
When Luke woke up in the morning, he realized that he needed to go back to school. He only missed a day, but he knew that if he missed another one he would have to play catch up, and he really wasn't interested in doing that. He sighed, threw off his covers, and rolled out of his bed. 

After throwing on some black skinny jeans and a Blink-182 tee-shirt, his shirt with the least amount of holes in it, Luke walked over to his mirror and began styling his hair. He spent extra time on it this morning, he wanted it to look good. Not for any reason in particular, he told himself. Once he decided his hair was satisfactory, Luke left his room and headed toward the kitchen. 

As he entered the room he saw his brothers sitting at the table eating cereal, and he decided that he might as well join them. He checked the time on his phone and figured his parents had already left for work. 

Luke sat at the table and Jack said to him, "You look hot today... Any reason in particular?" 

"Wha- no. I always look like this, what are you talking about?" Luke quickly answered. He picked up an apple and bit into it, hoping neither of his brothers noticed the blush growing on his checks. 

"Could it be for... Oh... I don't know... Hmmm. Clifford?" Jack smirked at Luke as he said it. Luke's eyebrows shot up, and he looked over at Ben to see what his reaction to Jack's words was, because as far as Luke was aware, only Jack knew about the whole Michael thing, not Ben. 

Ben looked over at Luke and said, "Why are you dressing nice for Clifford? Did the asshole say something to you about what you clot- oh." Everything seemed to click in place inside of Ben's head. He glanced over and Jack and asked, "Is this the said boy you were talking about?" In response, Jack nodded slyly. 

"whAT THE ACTUAL FUCK JACK?" Luke screamed as he threw the apple he was previously eating at his brother. 

"Hey little dude you technically never told me not tell anyone." Jack said as he placed the half eaten apple on the table. 

"Oh I don't know maybe I just figured that was implied?" Luke retorted. 

"But hey," Ben began as he set a hand on Luke's shoulder, "It might be better this way because now it's out there and you don't have to tell me. And do you really think any of us could keep a secret from another one of us for very long?"

"Apparently not," Luke answered. He sighed, well at least it was one less person he would have to come out to. 

"And," Jack said, "now there's two of us to help you win over Clifford's dick." 

Luke shoved Jack's arm, grabbed his apple, and stood up from the table. "You two are assholes," he mumbled as he went to retrieve his coat and backpack. Just as he was putting his shoes on, Luke looked up and death glared Jack. "If you ever tell anyone else without me knowing, I will skin you alive." At that Luke grabbed a snapback off the hook in the entrance way, opened the door of the house and slammed it shut behind him. 

Honestly, he wasn't mad at Jack at all. He was planning on telling Ben soon anyways, and now he wouldn't have to worry about that. He just wanted to make a point because Jack telling Ben was one thing, but Luke couldn't even imagine what he would do if other people knew. Of course he would have to deal with that at some point, but he had so many other problems to deal with currently that he didn't want Jack causing anymore. 

Luke threw on the snapback, and began walking to school. About half way there he almost wished he just sucked up his pride and got in the car with Jack and Ben. Almost. He didn't want to deal with their teasing right now when he didn't even know how he felt about the whole situation. 

Luke got to homeroom early. He walked over to his desk and flopped down on his chair. He was exhausted from everything in life, including his mile and a half journey to school. A few minutes later, Calum walked into the room, and his face brightened as he saw Luke. 

"I'm so glad you're here, it's nice having someone to talk to besides Mike," Calum said as he sat down next to Luke. 

"Mhm," Luke mumbled, hoping to avoid another conversation with Calum about Michael. The last one seemed to go smoothly enough, but he could tell Calum knew there was something he wasn't telling him. 

\------------------------------------------

The school day passed by easily enough. Throughout it, Luke found himself becoming more and more disappointed when he didn't have any interactions with Michael. He passed him in the hallways a few times, and Michael only glanced his way. There were no rude comments or crude jokes. Luke realized he would rather take Michael's shit and annoying comments over his avoidance. The avoidance was much much worse. 

In Luke's math class, the only class he shared with Michael, Luke waited and hoped for Michael to make some obnoxious remark to him. Any kind of recognition at all would be great. But when Michael entered the classroom, he just walked by Luke's desk and sat in the back of the room. No eye contact, no comment, no punch in the arm. Nothing. 

By the time he finally arrived to the music room where he and Calum had decided to work on their cover together, Luke was very confused and angry. Why did Michael spend the last few years of his life trying to make Luke's life hell, and then stop all of a sudden? Luke did not understand it. Just as his mind started to wander back to the party and everything that happened, Calum opened the door and came to sit next to Luke. 

"Cal," Luke began, "Do you know what's up with Michael?" Luke looked down as he asked the question, fearing that Calum would notice how frustrated Luke was with the whole situation. 

"I- uh." Calum paused. "Could you be a little more specific?" Luke could tell that Calum knew exactly what he was talking about by the way he had began to say something then stopped himself. 

"Do you know why he's ignoring me? Like he hasn't even glared at me today... Is he okay?" Luke asked him. 

"So Mike is not making fun of you, and you're worried that he's not okay? Wow, I think the better question here is are you okay? You should be rejoicing that he's finally giving you a break." Calum laughed as he spoke. 

Luke glared at Calum, he didn't find any of this funny at all. He was genuinely curious as to why Michael was ignoring him. "Please Calum," Luke said to him. 

"Okay... Uh- yeah. I'm not really sure." Calum answered quickly, as if he was hoping to drop the topic. 

"So he hasn't said anything to you?" Luke continued to question him. 

"He-nope. Nothing." Calum hopped off the chair and grabbed two guitars, handing one to Luke. "We should really practice this cover some more," Calum said with way more enthusiasm than necessary. 

Luke sighed in defeat. He realized that Calum wasn't going to tell him anything more right now. He took the guitar from Calum and began to go over a few chords from the song. 

\-------------------------------------------

Later that night, after Luke finished his homework and recorded a guitar cover of his own to post to youtube, he was laying on his bed, scrolling through his phone. Luke was bored. He hated being bored because when he was his mind always went back to the party, the game, and mostly to the kiss he shared with Michael. Every time Luke thought about it, he just became more frustrated. He constantly had to remind himself that it was all a game to Michael, and that he meant nothing to the pink haired boy. 

Eventually Luke couldn't take it any longer, he needed something to do. He grabbed his coat, threw on a pair of converse, and left his house. He sent a text to his mom saying he was going to a friend's house. He didn't want to talk to anyone right now, but he also didn't want his mom to worry about him when she realized he wasn't home. 

The sun was setting as Luke walked down the street, casting a warm glow on the houses Luke walked by. Once Luke made it to the bus stop, he dropped down on the bench and waited. He wasn't really sure where he was headed, he just wanted to get out of his town for a little bit. He needed to clear his head and he was hoping that would be easier to do once he was away from everyone. 

When the bus finally arrived, Luke stood up and climbed on. He paid the driver, and made his way to the back of the bus. He chose a seat away from everyone, and rested his head against the window. 

After about a 15 minute ride, the bus had reached the city which sat at the edge of Luke's town. The bus slowed down at a bus stop, and Luke decided it was as good of a place as any to get off. 

Luke walked aimlessly down the city streets, passing countless faces of people who all seemed like the had somewhere to go. He walked by brightly lit restaurants, filled with noises and laughter. He passed by homes and apartments. As he walked, he thought. He thought about Michael. He slowly began to realize how much he liked Michael. How much he liked his obnoxious pink hair, his black earrings, his "I don't care about your opinion" attitude. He also realized that Michael probably didn't return those feelings. 

Luke eventually came to a bench and sat down on it. He leaned his head back and looked into the sky. It was hard to see the stars because of the bright city lights, but he could still make them out. As Luke was looking at the sky, he felt a rain drop hit his face. Luke figured he should start to head back toward a bus stop so he could catch a bus back into town before it started to downpour. He pulled out his phone to check the time and was startled to see that it was nearly 2:30 in the morning. He didn't know he had been walking around for that long. He quickly began to search for a bus stop, hoping he could find one nearby. As he made his way through the streets, the rain starting to fall faster, soaking Luke's hair.

After about 15 minutes of looking, Luke found a bus stop at the end of a street. He made his way over to the bus schedule to see how long he would have to wait for the next bus to arrive. As he read the schedule he became more and more panicked. He read the sign over twice to make sure he wasn't missing anything. The soonest time that a bus would be arriving at the stop was at 6:30. That was four hours away. Luke read the schedule once more to see if there was another stop he could go to to get on a bus, but it appeared that all the buses were shut down until the morning. 

It wasn't helping that the rain began to pound down harder. It was down pouring, and Luke was soaked, cold, and scared. He didn't know how he would get home, and he couldn't wait out in the middle of the city all night in the rain. Luke ran for cover under a tree and pulled out his phone. 

He knew he couldn't call his mom, she would kill him and he would be grounded for life. He couldn't call his brothers either, because his mom could easily catch them trying to sneak out of the house, and then they would all be grounded. He thought for a few minutes, and realized his only option was to call Calum. He whipped off the phone screen as best he could, and searched through his contacts until he found Calum. He really hoped Calum was awake, he didn't have another option. Either Calum came to pick him up, or he was stuck in the rain until the morning. 

Just as Luke was about to call Calum, a loud boom of thunder shock the ground. Luke was now terrified, he was not in the mood to be electrocuted in this storm. Luke crossed his fingers and dialed Calum's number. 

After about four rings the phone was finally picked up. "Hello?" A slightly familiar voice asked. Luke was surprised, the voice was definitely not Calum's. 

"...is Calum t-there?" Luke stuttered, hoping whoever answered would quickly give the phone to his friend, he was freezing and slowly beginning to lose it. 

"Uhh- no. He's not... He can't come to the phone." The other person answered. Luke really wasn't in the mood for this, he need to talk to Calum now. 

"Alright I don't know who the fuck I'm talking to but I would really appreciate it if you could go get Calum and hand him the phone." Luke shouted over the storm. 

"Luke," the voice seemed surprised now, and it almost sounded worried, "it's Michael. And Calum really can't come to the phone right now... He-he's out. He came to my house earlier, but he isn't here right now. I'm sure he'll be back in the morning if you still need him though." Michael told him. 

Luke was mad at himself for not realizing who it was sooner. Of course he recognized the voice. It belonged to the person he used to loath and now wants. He should have known Michael would be at Calum's house. Michael practically lives there. He sighed as he leaned back into the tree. Just as he could feel the tears beginning to slide down his face, a loud boom of thunder made him yelp. 

"Luke? Luke are you outside? What the fuck are you doing outside right now?" Michael yelled through the phone. 

"I- uh," Luke paused, he really didn't want to tell Michael what he was doing, but at this point he really had no other choice. "I'm stuck, uh, in the city." Luke was shaking now, he was cold, tired and scared. He wanted to go home and wrap himself up in a huge blanket and never go outside again. 

"How the hell did you- never mind. I can ask questions later. Where are you? I can come pick you up.. I'll - yeah I'll take Calum's car." Michael said to Luke. Luke was very tempted to say no. He came out here to get away from Michael and that situation, and now Michael was planning to come save him. 

"No- it's... It's fine. I can just wait for the morn-" Luke was cut off by another thunder boom. 

"Yeah fucking right," Michael said to him. "Luke please just tell me where you are." 

At that point Luke realized he really had no clue where he was. He looked over at a nearby shop, which was closed now. He read the name of the shop and told Michael. 

Just as Michael was telling Luke to stay put, the phone call broke off. Luke frantically looked down at his phone. It had died. Luke cursed himself for not charging it before he left his house. He curled himself into a ball and waited under the tree. He was crying now, he couldn't hold it in. Everything that had happened the last week came crashing back to him, he was exhausted and freezing. With his phone dead Luke was now completely utterly alone, and the only person who could help him now was Michael Clifford.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you think in the comments


	6. Six

Chapter 6  
Luke sat under the tree for what felt like hours. Eventually he must have drifted off, because the next thing he knew, someone was shaking him. 

"Luke," it took him a minute to realize Michael was there, talking to him, "Lukey, I'm here." Once Michael saw that Luke was finally awake enough to function, he reached a hand down to pull the soaking boy up to his feet. 

As soon as Luke was on his feet he leaned into Michael, sobbing. Michael hesitated a second before wrapping his arms around the shivering boy. Luke hid his face in the crook of Michael's neck. Michael rubbed his hands down Luke's back in an attempt to comfort the younger boy. 

"Lukey, we should at least get out of this storm," Michael said after a few moments of standing in the downpour. The wind was blowing hard now, and Michael was already freezing, he couldn't even imagine how cold Luke must have been. When Luke didn't say anything in response, Michael walked them toward Calum's car. It was hard for Michael to move the teenage boy who was clinging onto him for dear life, but somehow Michael managed to get Luke to the car. 

Michael opened the passenger side door. When Michael began to try to detach Luke from his body, Luke held onto Michael tighter. 

"Luke... You have to let go of me to get in the car. I promise I'll get right in after you." Michael said. Slowly Luke loosened his hold on Michael, and he turned to climb into the passenger side of the car. Michael shut the door behind Luke, and walked to the other side of the car and got in. 

As soon as Michael was in, he saw that Luke was shivering. "Luke, take off your shirt, you'll warm up faster without it on. It's soaked." Luke looked hesitant at first, but then realized Michael had a point. He pulled the soaked shirt over his head and tossed it on the car floor. He kicked off his converse. His skinny jeans were uncomfortable and soggy so he unzipped them, and pealed them off his skin and threw them on the ground as well. He looked over and noticed that Michael was starring at him with a very surprised expression on his face. In any other situation, Luke would have been embarrassed, but at this moment he could care less. 

"We haven't even gone on date yet and you're already taking your clothes off?" Michael joked. Luke blushed and let out a small laugh. 

Michael took off the flannel he was wearing, leaving him in only a Metallica teeshirt. Luke gave Michael a confused look and asked, "Wh-what are you doing?" 

"Well I'm not going to let you freeze to death Luke," Michael said as he draped the flannel shirt over Luke's shoulders. 

"Uh- thanks," Luke said through chattering teeth. He slipped his hands through the sleeve of the flannel. Michael turned the heat up, and the car began to fill with warm air. 

As Luke began to warm up, he started to feel better and was able to think more clearly. It finally occurred to him that he was sitting in a car at 3 in the morning, with someone who hated him. Not to mention the fact that he had almost no clothes on. 

"Why did you come to get me?" Luke asked Michael cautiously. The whole situation was extremely confusing to Luke. Last he knew, Michael wasn't Luke's biggest fan. 

"I wasn't going to fucking leave you for dead in the middle of a thunderstorm," Michael told Luke. He said it as if Luke was crazy for ever thinking he would do such a thing. 

"Well I mean seeing that you hate me and all I was just confused," Luke mumbled. Michael looked away from Luke. He reached over and grabbed Luke's hand, causing Luke to look up at him. 

"Luke... I - I don't hate you," Michael said quietly. 

"Could've fooled me," Luke whispered. He tried to pull his hand from Michael's but Michael only held on tighter. 

"I'm sorry I've been such an asshole," Michael said softly. Luke looked away from Michael's face and down to their connected hands. 

"Why Michael?" Luke asked, "Did I do something to you?" Michael's heart broke at Luke's words. For the past few years he's been a jerk to this boy, and now Luke is wondering if he did something wrong. 

"No Luke. Honestly you didn't do anything. You just... Never mind. Let's just get you home, okay?" Michael asked Luke. 

"Wait," Luke started, "I can't... I can't go home right now. If I wake my mom up she will murder me. Can you- I don't know- can you just take me somewhere else?" Michael nodded his head and thought for a moment. 

"Yeah that's fine. I can take you to my house, my parents aren't home. Also, Calum was over for a bit but he ditched me to do... Other things." Michael smirked as spoke. 

"Other things?" Luke questioned him. 

"Uhh- yeah. Anyways he should be back at some point tonight or in the morning, so you can just hang with us." 

"Thanks Michael," Luke said quietly. Everything that happened had drained him both mentally and physically, and it was really hard for him to keep his eyes open. 

Michael pulled the car onto the road and began to drive home. Soon enough Luke feel asleep. Michael looked down and realized that his and Luke's hand with still together. He smiled to himself, and kept Luke's hand in his as he drove to his house. 

\-------------------------------------------

Luke woke up when Michael began shaking his shoulder. "Lukey, we're here." Luke groaned and looked over at Michael. 

"Can I just sleep here?" Luke whined. 

"Considering you still have no clothes on and it's freezing out, I'm going to say no. Sorry but you're going to have to get out of the car." Michael said as he climbed out of the car. He walked to the other side of the car and pulled open Luke's door. He reach down and grabbed Luke's hands, and pulled him out of the vehicle. 

Luke shivered as soon as he was standing outside the car. The rain had finally stopped, but it was still cold. Michael shut the door and pulled Luke into his arms in an attempt to keep the boy from freezing to death. 

Together they made their way into Michael's house, and up the stairs to a room that Luke could only assume was Michael's bedroom, judging by the band posters covering the walls. Michael let go of Luke and walked over to a dresser. He pulled out a pair of boxers and a Nirvana tee and handed them to Luke. 

"I don't need boxers, I have mine." Luke said shyly. 

"Like hell Luke. They're soaked. Besides, I won't let you sleep in my bed and get it all gross with your wet clothes." Michael told him. Luke gave him a startled expression. 

"I'm- I'm not going to sleep in your bed. I can sleep on the floor." Luke said quickly. 

"Luke I'm not going make you sleep on the floor," Michael stated, "I'll sleep on the floor. Just change and go to sleep, you'll feel better in the morning." 

Luke sighed and realized Michael was not going to budge on the issue. "Turn around," Luke said to Michael. Michael did as he was told and gave Luke some privacy. Michael walked over to his bed and stole one of the pillows and put it on the ground. He went into his closet and pulled out a few blankets, leaving two of them on the bed for Luke and taking one for himself. He sat on the ground, wrapped himself in the blanket, and put his head on his pillow. 

When Luke finished changing, he walked over to the bed. He pulled the covers back and crawled in. He reach down and grabbed the extra blankets Michael put out for him, and pulled them over himself. He turned on his side so that he was facing Michael. Even though Luke was exhausted in the car, he now felt very awake. Here he was, sitting in Michael's room. The boy he had a major crush on. Luke wasn't able to fall asleep. 

"Michael?" Luke asked after a few minutes. He wasn't sure if the pink haired boy had fallen asleep yet. 

"Mhm?" Michael mumbled from the floor. He twisted around and leaned up on his elbow so that he could see Luke. 

"I just wanted to- uh... Say thanks. For like saving me and all of that." Luke said quietly. 

"'Course," Michael said. 

"Also... I'm sorry I'm just really curious. What is Calum doing at 3 in the freaking morning?" Luke questioned. Michael laughed in response. He seemed to realize that Luke wasn't about to go to sleep so he picked up his blanket and walked over to the bed. 

"Slide over and I'll do my best to explain," Michael said to Luke. Luke moved to one side of the bed, so that Michael had room to sit next to him. Luke was laying under all the blankets while Michael sat on top of them, wrapped in his own blanket. 

"Ok," Michael began, "I'm sure you know Cal and I are really good friends right?" Luke nodded and Michael continued, "So basically, he comes over and 'hangs out' with me, but sometimes he actually goes and hangs out with a different person. I'm just his cover. He'll come over and leave his car here, so if his parents were to drive by they would think he's here, and then he'll walk to his other friend's house." Luke pulled himself up so that he was sitting next to Michael. 

"So... Do I get to know who this mystery person is?" Luke asked. He didn't want to invade on Calum's secret personal life, but he was genuinely curious. 

"Uhmm..." Michael seemed to be trying to decide something in his head. "Uh, well. It's Calum's secret lover." Michael giggled as he said it. Luke looked at Michael to see if he was being serious. 

"For real?" Luke asked. He was honestly surprised by this. Calum never mentioned anything about any kind of other person, but then Luke remembered that only Michael seemed to know about any of this. "But why would Calum go out in the middle of the night to see some girl? Like why can't he just do that in the day time like normal people?" Luke was confused. Michael laughed at Luke's words. 

"Well maybe it's because it's not 'some girl' but rather 'some guy.'" Michael said quietly. 

"Oh," Luke hadn't expected that at all. 

"Yeah..." Michael said, "But Cal's going to kill me if he knows I told you. So for my sake can you not say anything about that? He's really struggling with the whole situation. Wait for him to tell you himself." Michael looked at Luke worriedly. 

"I won't say anything," Luke promised. He poked Michael's cheek and joked, "I wouldn't want Cal to do anything to your pretty face." Michael blushed and swatted Luke's hand away. 

Luke sighed and rested his head on Michael's shoulder. He expected Michael to push him off, but Michael let him stay there. Luke thought it was ironic that Calum told him about Michael's sexuality, and now Michael had told him about Calum's secret lover. They were great at keeping secrets. 

"Well is he hot?" Luke asked Michael. "The secret love I mean," Luke said to clarify. 

"Yeah..." Michael said. "His name is Ashton. Shit- probably shouldn't have said that. Oh well it doesn't make a difference if you know his name... Anyways he's got this crazy curly hair and he never stops giggling. Ever." 

"That's cute..." Luke yawned, he was starting to feel tired again, "I like boys with crazy hair." As soon as Luke said it, he blushed. He didn't mean to say the second part out loud. 

Michael looked over at Luke and asked, "All people with crazy hair or just boys specifically?" Luke could tell that Michael wasn't talking about hair anymore. Luke sighed and pulled the blankets tighter around him. 

"Boys specifically." Luke mumbled. Michael picked up Luke's hand and held it tight in his. 

"Well I happen to like boys with crazy hair as well," Michael admitted, "Girls too actually." Luke laughed. 

"I know," Luke said, "Calum might have accidentally told me that once." 

"HE DID WHAT?" Michael yelled. 

"Michael he didn't mean to," Luke tried to assure him. "And besides, you just told me about his secret lover so I'd say you're pretty even." Michael took a deep breath and thought about Luke's words. 

"Ok I guess you're right," Michael said once he calmed down, "That doesn't mean I'm not going to beat his ass when I see him." 

Luke laughed at that, and then yawned again. His head was still resting on Michael's shoulder and he was about to fall asleep.

"Do what you like," Luke sleepily told him, "but I think his face is cute so please don't ruin it." Michael laughed at Luke's request. 

"But my face is cuter right?" Michael asked Luke. Luke was struggling to keep his eyes open. 

"The cutest," Luke whispered just as he was drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going away for a week or two so I made this update extra long because I won't be able to update for a bit. I hope you like it!


	7. Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this update took so long... I had bad writer's block and I didn't really know where the story was headed, but I think I figured it out now. Anyways this chapter is extra long to make up for me being a shit.

CHAPTER 7  
The first thing Luke noticed when he woke up was the arm laying across his back. The next thing he noticed was that his head was rested on someone's chest. "Oh." Luke thought to himself. He cracked his eyes open and peered down at Michael. He was sleeping peacefully, with his mouth slightly open. Luke smiled to himself and closed his eyes again. He took a deep breath, inhaling Michael's scent. He did not want to move. He could happily lay snuggled next to Michael for the rest of his life.

Just as Luke was about to fall back asleep, Michael grunted and rolled over. Right on top of Luke. At first Luke laughed to himself, he thought it was cute. But a few moments later Luke realized he couldn't really breathe with the pink hair boy completely laying on top of him. 

"Michael," Luke said as he poked Michael in the side. Instead of answering, Michael just nuzzled his head next to Luke's neck. "Michael," Luke tried again. This time Michael grunted in response. "Mikey, you're crushing me." Luke felt his face heat up when he realized what he just called Michael. Michael, however, didn't seem to notice and instead wrapped his arms around Luke and squeezed him tighter. 

"Mmmm... I'm good right here," Michael mumbled. Luke chuckled in response and put a hand on Michael's shoulder, pushing him until he rolled off of Luke. "It's like ass-crack in the morning why the fuck are you awake," Michael groaned. Luke looked over to the alarm clock sitting on Michael's desk. 

"Actually it's 11 a.m." Luke corrected him. 

"Like I said, ass-crack early in the morning," Michael repeated. Luke giggled. It was then that Luke remembered he was laying in bed with only a pair of boxers on and a skimpy nirvana tank. Luke also noticed that when Michael had rolled around on the bed, he had pulled the blankets off of Luke, and now his long legs were exposed. He looked over to Michael and caught him staring. 

"Like what you see?" Luke joked. Michael blushed and didn't say anything in response. Luke reached over and pulled the blankets back over himself, hoping to make the situation a little less awkward. 

"I'm sorry you're probably freezing," Michael said to him, "I should have offered you more than just some boxers and a tank." 

"It's okay," Luke said. He moved so that his head was resting on Michael's chest again and put and arm across him. "You're warm." Michael slowly traced his fingers up and down Luke's back, causing the younger boy to sigh contentedly. 

In the back of Luke's mind there was still a voice screaming at him. Last Luke knew, Michael hated him. For years Michael had made Luke's life a complete hell and now he's cuddling with him. Luke was confused, why was Michael being so friendly to him? He knew he shouldn't trust the pink haired boy as much as he did, yet here he was. He always let people in too easily, becoming close with them so quickly. As much as Luke tried to avoid the voice in his head, he couldn't. Luke decided that he at least deserved some answers. 

"Michael," Luke began. He didn't want to ruin this moment he was having with Michael, but he knew they needed to figure this out. "Why are you being so nice to me all of a sudden? I thought you hated me." 

"I don't hate you Luke," Michael murmured as he looked away. "I know I've been an asshole to you and I'm sorry for that." 

"If you don't hate me why were you so awful to me?" Luke asked. Michael was not being very clear here. 

"Because I'm a dick," Michael responded. 

"I've noticed," Luke scoffed. "You dumped spaghetti on me during lunch in ninth grade if I recall." Luke tried to keep his expression serious but he ended up laughing, remembering how ridiculous that day was. 

"Okay maybe that was shitty of me." Michael chuckled. A few moments later his expression turned serious again and he turned to Luke, "I have an explanation for all of this." 

"I'd love to hear it," Luke answered him. Before Michael started talking, he pulled himself up so that he was sitting against the headrest of the bed. Luke moved too so that he was shoulder to shoulder with Michael. 

"I don't even know where to start," Michael sighed. Luke picked up Michael's hand and held it in his. 

"How 'bout you start with the first day we met," Luke suggested. 

"Okay," Michael thought for a moment. "That was the time I made fun of your green sunglasses, wasn't it?" Michael winced as he remember the day. 

"Yeah, you said something along the lines of 'Damn your glasses are nerdy as fuck.'" 

Michael remembered that day vividly. Calum and him had decided to go to a "party" one weekend a few summers ago. Of course, thinking back, Michael realized how it wasn't a party so much as a bunch of teenage boys sitting around on couches, making immature jokes and eating junk food. 

It was the first time that both Michael and Calum had ever seen Luke, he was new to the neighborhood that year. At first Michael didn't talk to him, he just listened in on the conversation he was having with Calum about bands. While Calum made friends easily, Michael did not. His only good friend was Calum, and that was only because their parents were friends, so naturally they had play-dates all the time when they were little, which resulted in them becoming really close. 

Michael thought Luke seemed like a friendly kid when they met, and he wanted to be friends with him. At some point Calum had left the two boys and continued to socialize with other people, and Michael decided to talk to Luke, possibly try to become friends or something. However, Michael, who was lacking in the friend making skills department, thought it would be a good idea to break the ice and make a joke. Unfortunately his joke about Luke's 'nerdy' glasses wasn't as funny as he thought it would be. 

Luke was clearly offended, giving Michael a look as he got off the couch and walked away. Michael, never one to let his ego take a hit, called to Luke, "Aw Blondie! I didn't get your number." Luke, in response, flipped Michael off.

Soon after that Michael convinced Calum that they should leave, he couldn't handle the glares he was getting from the blonde boy any longer. Michael felt bad about what he said to Luke but didn't want to awkwardly apologize, so he left without saying another word. 

A couple days after that encounter, Calum and Luke hung out together. When Calum asked Michael if he wanted to join, he declined. He didn't know what he would say to the boy he offended so much, so he thought it would be easier to just stay away from him. 

A few weeks later, however, Michael realized that he made a mistake by not joining Calum the first time he hung out with Luke. Luke and Calum began to hang out more and more, which meant Michael got to see Calum less. At first, Michael didn't let it bother him. But then when him and Calum did hang out, all Calum talked about was Luke and how awesome Luke was and how funny Luke was, and honestly, it was getting on Michael's nerves. 

Once the summer ended and school started again, Michael was stressed out that Calum would only spend time with Luke in school, leaving him for dead. In his mind, he decided that the best course of action was to hate Luke and be awful to him, in hopes that maybe Calum would stop being friends with someone Michael disliked so much. 

It started off with Michael name calling Luke in the hallways. Soon it transitioned to stealing his PE clothes so that when Luke went to gym class he wouldn't have the correct outfit, which would end in Luke having to stay after school for detention. 

The worst part of the whole situation was that it was so hard for Michael to hate Luke. Luke was probably the kindest kid on the face of the earth. Sometimes in class, when Michael would stare at him instead of paying attention to the lesson, he would notice little things that Luke did, such as lending someone a pen when they had forgotten theirs or getting notes for Calum when he was absent. Luke was never mean to anyone. He wasn't even mean to Michael, he usually just ignored the boy. 

As the years passed by, Michael found himself becoming more and more infatuated with Luke. He couldn't help himself, there was something about the way his whole face lit up when he laughed, the way he would help everyone, and honestly, the way he looked. Michael thought Luke was the most beautiful thing on the planet. It mad him angry that he had fucked up their relationship pretty much to the point beyond fixing it. 

The only way Michael could ever get Luke's attention was by being a jerk to him, otherwise Luke completely ignored him. So Michael, not wanting to be completely forgotten by Luke, kept up his asshole demeanor for years. He told himself that he didn't like Luke, even though he knew it was a lie. He pushed all his feelings away, hiding them behind his rudeness, hoping that one day they would just go away. 

Just when Michael finally thought his feelings for Luke had begun to fade, he was forced to make out with him at the party. Well, not forced, but Michael would never let Calum beat him in a competition. At first Michael tried to keep his emotions under control, figuring he could just make out with the boy and then go back to being his usually dickhead self. That plan went out the window as soon a their lips met and Luke ran his hands through Michael's hair. In that moment Michael let all his walls down, and did what he had been wanting to do for years. 

While Michael and Luke had been making out during that game, Michael completely forgot where he was. He was lost in Luke's touch, intoxicated by his closeness. Just when things were about to go a little to far, Michael was reminded that there was nothing real about the kiss. It was all just a game. He pulled away from Luke, and felt his walls go back up. He did the only thing he knew how to do, and insulted Luke for the millionth time. Luke gave Michael that same look he gave him years ago when they first met, and then walked back to the circle and sat down. Michael hated himself. 

Eventually Luke got up from the game, and walked out of the room. Michael didn't see him the rest of the night. Michael may have drowned his emotions in alcohol. Maybe a little too much alcohol. He might have confessed his feeling about Luke to Calum, although Calum was equally as drunk, so Michael doubted he remembered anything that was said. 

Michael spent the weekend recovering from his hangover, and working through his feelings for Luke. For so long he had avoided his emotions, but he couldn't now. Not after having the boy wrapped up in his arms. 

After hours of sitting on his floor and thinking, Michael thought that maybe he could fix things with Luke. Maybe they could just start over. Michael knew it was wishful thinking, but he figured Luke couldn't hate him anymore than he already did, so why not give it a shot. Michael told himself that he would try to talk to Luke at school on Monday. Maybe he could show Luke he wasn't a total ass. 

When Monday finally came around, Michael was nervous to go to school. He didn't know what the fuck to say to Luke. At school, however, he realized all his worry was pointless. Luke wasn't even there. When Michael asked Calum if he knew where he was, Calum just shrugged and said, "I don't know... He hasn't answered any of my texts." 

Michael was in a shitty mood the rest of the day. When he got home, he threw his backpack on his floor, crawled into his bed, and played video games late into the night. It was easier to lose himself in the game than to think about Luke. 

The next day, Michael did see Luke at school. When he passed him in the hallway he completely lost his nerve. He didn't say anything to the blue eyed boy. He just walked by without more than a glance. As the day went on, Michael couldn't bring himself to confront Luke. He was mad at himself for being such a wuss, and just went home. 

That night, Calum had "come over." When Calum got to his house, he barely even came inside long enough to say hi before he was running out the door and making his way to meet up with Ashton. Most of the time Michael found Calum's secret love life cute, but that wasn't one of their times. He was going to suck it up and talk to Calum about Luke, even though he knew Calum would totally give him shit for the whole thing. But it didn't matter anyway, Calum had other plans. 

When Michael heard Calum's phone ringing at first, he just ignored it. But after the third time it rang, Michael thought it might be important so he picked it up and looked at the screen. He sucked in a breath as he realized it was Luke who was calling Calum's phone. Why the fuck was Luke calling Calum at 2 in the fucking morning? Michael couldn't help himself, he was curious, so he answered the phone. 

Michael's heart stopped when he heard the distressed tone of Luke's voice. Once Luke had finally agreed that Michael could come pick him up, Michael got in Calum's car and drove through the storm. He couldn't believe Luke was out in the middle of the fucking city at 2 am during a thunderstorm. Michael wondered if the boy had a death wish. 

Finally, Michael had found Luke curled into a ball under a tree. He pulled him to his feet and, once again, Michael felt his walls fall down as Luke clutched to him like he was his lifeline. When Michael had finally had Luke safe in his car, he finally relaxed. He joked easily with Luke, trying to make the younger boy calm down. He definitely did not stare at Luke when he was sitting two feet away in nothing but a pair of wet boxers. He gave Luke his flannel, hoping that it was enough to keep him warm until they got back to Michael's house. Michael had to admit that Luke looked pretty fucking cute in his flannel. 

It was so easy to just be open with Luke. Back at his house he told him all about Calum's thing with Ashton, and was surprised when Luke told him about his sexuality. He figured Luke was probably still too shocked from the whole night to realize what he was confessing, but it was a nice feeling knowing that Luke trusted him enough. 

The two times Luke asked Michael why he hated him, Michael's heart shattered. Michael could never hate Luke, he felt exactly the opposite way about him. But of course Luke thought Michael hated him, it's not like Michael had been anything but an asshole to Luke ever since they met. 

Michael was snapped back to reality when Luke nudged his shoulder. He didn't realize that he had zoned out. "You okay?" Luke asked him. 

"Yeah, just thinking this through I guess." Michael took a few more moments trying to decide what information he should tell Luke.

"Okay," Michael began, "so after our first encounter, I didn't know how to apologize... So I just avoided you. But then you and Cal began to hang out, and yeah. I was jealous. Calum is my only good friend. I was worried he would realize how much cooler you were than me, and then he would ditch me."

"I'm sorry," Luke said as he squeezed Michael's hand, "I didn't think about how that would be for you." Michael laughed at that. He couldn't believe this kid. 

"You're apologizing for hanging out with Calum and not me when I was the one who was a dick to you? Honestly this whole thing is my fault, I wouldn't have hung out with me either." Michael told him. 

"Well I get why you were angry at me," Luke said. "I would have been pretty pissed if my friend was ditching me for someone else." For the billionth time, Michael remember how much he liked Luke. He was also so quick to understand and find the best in someone. "But really," Luke continued, "that was so long ago, why did you never get over hating me? It's not like Calum stopped being your friend or anything." 

Michael sighed at Luke's words. This was the part that was hard to explain. He couldn't straight up tell the other boy that he had a thing for him. He couldn't tell him that it frustrated him that they would never have conversations. He couldn't tell him how much he loved his blue eyes. He couldn't tell him that he was confused by all of this, and expressed his frustration through anger at Luke. He couldn't list all the reasons, because that would probably just scare Luke away, especially sense the boy probably didn't even consider Michael a friend yet. 

"I don't know Luke," Michael said. And in reality, he really didn't know. He couldn't think of a good reason other than it was easier to hate Luke than try to fix their relationship, and that was a shitty reason. 

"Mmm-kay," Luke mumbled. He wasn't really happy with that answer, but he could tell Michael was at a loss for words. Maybe someday, if Michael and him worked through this and came out as friends, Michael would be able to explain better. 

"I'm sorry," Michael whispered, "if it's even worth anything now." Luke had to turn and look at Michael, he sounded so broken. 

"I know," Luke said as Michael met his eyes. "I forgive you." Michael couldn't believe Luke. The boy was too good for this world. Michael smiled slightly and rested his head on Luke's shoulder.

"Thanks," he said quietly. "So can we start over? From the beginning?" 

"Of course..." Luke paused to think for a moment. "But if you ever call me 'Blondie' again I swear I will kick your ass so hard." 

"Whatever you say Blondie," Michael giggled. Luke hit him in the stomach lightly. 

"Michael the name doesn't even make sense. I'm not blonde... My hair is light brown." Luke told Michael. Michael started laughing hysterically at this, and took a minute to catch his breathe. 

"Lukey," he started, Luke blushed at the nickname, realizing he preferred it much more over Blondie, "I hate to break it to you but your hair is blonde."

"Ok well if my hair is blonde then your hair was blonde too before you dyed it. So I should be able to call you Blondie." Luke said. 

"Bullshit!" Michael yelled, "My hair was brown!" Now both the boys were laughing at this ridiculous argument.

"Michael, our hair was LITERALLY THE SAME COLOR." Luke insisted. "But not anymore," Luke said as he reached up and ran his hand through Michael's pink hair. "I have to say I really like this over the blonde."

"Brown." Michael corrected. 

Both of them had finally stopped laughing and now they were sitting in peaceful quiet. 

Michael turned to Luke, and put his hand on the back of Luke's head. He twirled his fingers in Luke's hair and mumbled, "Well whatever color this is, I like it." 

The mood of their conversation had changed from playful to serious quickly. Luke sighed and leaned into Michael's touch. Michael glanced down at Luke's lips, and damn he wanted to kiss them. He remember the way Luke's lips felt, and before he even realized it, Luke was leaning in towards him. 

Michael felt Luke's lips against his, and his heart fluttered. At first Luke just brushed his lips against Michael's, and began to pull away. 

Michael wasn't anywhere near being done with the kiss, so he used his hand on the back of Luke's neck to pull him back in, reconnecting their lips. Luke sighed as Michael broke away and began kissing his neck. His heart raced as he felt Michael turn to face him, swinging a leg over and sitting on Luke's thighs. When Michael began creating a dark mark on his neck, Luke threw his head back and hit it head on the headrest in the process. "Fuck," Luke said. He wasn't sure if he was referring to the pain in his head or the sensation of Michael's lips on his neck, probably both. 

Luke groaned and ran his hands up and down Michael's body. Exploring his skin with his finger tips. He reach his hands down to the hem of Michael's shirt and started to tug on it, indicating to Michael that he wanted it off. 

And in that moment Michael's door slammed open and Calum was standing there excitingly yelling, "MICHAEL ASHTON ASKED ME TO BE HIS BOYFR-," Calum broke off as he took in the scene in front of him. Michael was sitting on top of Luke, with his head turned to Calum, looking like a dear in headlights. Luke, on the other hand, looked like a mess underneath Michael. Both of them were breathing heavily and there was an awkward silence as no one knew what to say. 

Finally Michael rolled off of Luke and onto his feet, standing up and walking over to Calum. 

"So your Ashton's boy now? That's great!" Michael said as he punched Calum in the shoulder. Calum just stared at Michael, still not believing what he just witnessed. 

"We can talk about Ash later, but uhm what the hell did I just walk in on?" Calum asked, first looking at Michael, then Luke. 

Luke saw the look in Michael's eyes change as the walls went back up inside him. Just as Luke was about to say something, Michael quickly said, "Oh. That? That was me showing Blondie some more moves. Apparently he couldn't get enough of me at the party." 

Luke threw his head back and sighed in frustration. Of course Michael was still an asshole. He was mad at himself for thinking Michael could change so quickly. He was also mad that he let Michael in so easily, just to have Michael throw it right back in his face. "Michael, really?" Luke asked quietly. He couldn't believe this was happening. He got up from the bed and walked past Michael and Calum, out of the bedroom. "Trust me Michael, I think I just got more than enough of you," and he turned around and walked from Michael's house. 

Calum was stunned by everything that just went down. He was pissed at Michael for hurting Luke, because clearly something serious just went down, and Michael fucked it up again. He was about to yell at Michael, but when he turned to the pink haired boy he saw him sitting on the floor with his knees pulled to his chest. Calum dropped down beside him and wrapped his arms around him. 

Michael knew he had screwed up. He regretted saying what he did as soon as he said it. He couldn't help himself, he was so used to being an asshole when it came to dealing with Luke. When Calum came in, Michael was caught by surprise and didn't think about what he was saying before it came out of his mouth. The look Luke gave him as he walked out of his room was something he'd never forget. Luke looked so sad and broken, and Michael knew it was all his fault. 

"Cal," Michael whispered as tears began to run down his face, "I fucked up."


	8. Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry I haven't updated in like a year but I just finished college applications so I promise I'll update more now

CHAPTER 8

After Luke had stormed out of Michael's house, he realized he made a huge mistake. Well, a few huge mistakes. To begin with, he didn't even bother trying to talk it out with Michael. Once again their relationship was screwed up. Luke reminded himself it was Michael's fault, but he couldn't help feeling guilty for not talking to Michael about what just happened. 

His second mistake was that he ran out of Michael's house wearing nothing more than a pair of boxers and a tank top. Thankfully Luke remembered that he left all his clothes in Calum's car last night. He walked over to it. Luke figured it would probably be best not to be seen with no clothes on standing outside of Michael's house, so he got in Calum's car to change. 

Just as Luke was struggling to slide on his still damp skinny jeans, the driver-side door opened, and Calum sat down in the seat next to him. 

"You okay?" Calum asked as he looked over at Luke. 

"No Calum I'm not fucking okay," Luke whispered as tears fell down his face. "What do you want?" He asked Calum, slightly annoyed. He was not in the mood to talk to anyone, all he wanted was to be alone. 

"What do I want?" Calum thought for a moment. "Currently I want to go punch Mike in the face and tell him to stop being such an asshole, but he told me to drive you home. So I'm going to do that first." 

"Why does he care if I get home or not?" Luke asked Calum angrily. His emotions were all over the place. 

"Why do you think Luke?" Calum asked as he rolled his eyes, as if the answer was obvious. Luke sighed and leaned his head against the window. "Oh," Calum said, "I grabbed your flannel from Michael's room." He tossed the shirt toward Luke. 

Sure Luke could have told Calum that the flannel was Michael's and not his, but at that moment he was wearing his damp clothes and was freezing, so he threw the flannel on anyways. No one had to know that he was comforted by Michael's scent as he wrapped himself up in it. 

\-------------------------------------------

After Calum dropped Luke off at his house, Luke slowly climbed the stairs and walked to his room. He kicked off his cold jeans, and threw on a pair of old sweatpants. He tossed the flannel on the ground, and took off his wet tee shirt. He was going to put on one of his other shirts, but he looked down at the warm flannel on the floor. He picked it up and pushed his arms through the sleeves. Luke flopped down on his bed, and pulled the blankets over his head. He didn't care that it was the middle of the day, he was exhausted. He felt major déjà vu as he remembered the night after the party. Once again the pink haired boy was the reason he was crying himself to sleep. 

 

\-------------------------------------------

 

"WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK MICHAEL?" Calum yelled as he walked back into Michael's room. Calum's anger dissipated when he saw that Michael still hadn't moved from the place on the floor where he was sitting when Calum had left him to take Luke home. Calum sighed and sat down next to Michael. "Want to talk about it?" Calum asked as he nudged Michael with his shoulder. 

"No," Michael mumbled as he pulled his knees tighter toward his chest. Calum waited a few minutes, knowing that Michael would open up sooner or later. 

"I screwed up Cal," Michael said quietly. Calum was tempted to say something along the lines of 'you think?' but he knew that probably wouldn't be helpful right now. "We had finally worked all this shit out, after so many years, and then I had to fuck everything up again."

"I know you said some stupid stuff but I don't think you messed it up that bad... Nothing that can't be fixed." Calum told him. 

"Did you see the look he gave me Calum?" Michael cringed as he remembered the way Luke had looked at him as he left the room. 

"Well I think you deserved that Mike," Calum said quietly. "Why did you do it? When I walked in here it seemed that things were going very well. Why did you have to be a dick again?"

"I don't know..." Michael began, "I was so surprised when you walked in, I didn't know what to do. I was scared."

"Dammit Michael it was just me. There's no need for you bad boy act around me. You clearly have feelings of some sort for Luke and I don't know why you won't just accept it. Stop acting like you hate the guy, cause you don't." Calum paused and waited for Michael to say something. 

"It was easier being an asshole to him," Michael said quietly. 

"Mike," Calum started, "You have to stop pushing people away.... Also, I'm kind of offended that you feel the need to hide things from me. I thought we told each other everything."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," Michael said quietly as he looked down at his hands. 

"It's okay... I kinda already knew how you felt about him." Calum told him. 

"You what?" Michael asked him. 

"I didn't know for sure but I've noticed things." Calum said. "Like when we're in class and you spend more time looking at Luke instead of listening to the lesson."

"No I don't," Michael scoffed. 

"Yeah you do. Or whenever I mention Luke you get this weird look on your face. At first I really thought it was because you hated the kid so much. But I figured it out after awhile. I'm your best friend dude. Of course I knew." 

The two of them were quiet for a few minutes. They were sitting on the floor, leaning against one of the walls in Michael's room. 

"I just don't understand," Calum started, "Why you've been such a dick to the guy."

"Well here's the short version. First I was an idiot. Then I was jealous. And then I was scared." Michael told him. 

"Scared of what Mike?" Calum asked, still confused. 

"Don't know..." Michael stopped and thought for a moment. "Scared of apologizing. Scared he wouldn't forgive me. Scared he would hate me forever. It was easier for me to continue being an asshole than knowing Luke hated me." 

"But he did forgive you didn't he?" Calum asked, already knowing the answer. He knew Luke would forgive Michael. That's just who he is. 

"Yeah he did," Michael mumbled. "It doesn't matter anyways because I screwed it all up again." 

"It's only screwed up if you don't fix it," Calum reminded him. 

"I don't know how to fix it Cal," Michael sighed, "I suck at the whole friendship thing." 

"Just talk to him." Calum said. 

 

\-------------------------------------------

Michael planned on talking to Luke the next day at school. He wasn't going to let himself hesitate, he just needed to rip the bandaid off quickly. 

When Michael got to school, he saw Calum and Luke leaning against the lockers talking to each other. Michael walked towards them, deciding there was no time like the present to work things out. Luke, however, seemed to think differently. As soon as he saw Michael walking over to him and Calum, he quickly said bye to Calum and walked the other direction. 

"How to fuck am I supposed to talk to him if he just walks away?" Michael frustratingly asked Calum. 

"It's okay Mike. I think he just needs a little time first." Calum told him. 

"What were you two talking about?" Michael asked curiously. 

"Him. You. Him needing time." Calum said. 

"Does he actually want time or does he just want me to leave him alone?" Michael wondered. 

"Time." Calum assured him. 

"Okay," Michael said, "I can do time."

\-------------------------------------------

Michael, as it turned out, could not do time. The longer he waited, the more he went insane. It had been just over a week since the night the two boys had spent together, and Luke still kept walking away whenever Michael tried to approach him. 

After a two long days of Michael persistently asking Calum for Luke's phone number, Calum finally gave in and gave it to him. Everyday Michael had been sending Luke messages. Each one pretty much said the same thing. Something along the lines of "I'm sorry" "I fucked up" "Can we talk about this" and "I'm an idiot." Michael knew he was probably annoying the shit out of Luke, but he figured if he annoyed him enough, the blue eyed boy would finally talk to him. Even if it was just to tell Michael to stop. At this point Michael would take any kind of interaction with Luke at all. 

Night was the worst time of the day for Michael. He would crawl into bed, wrap himself in his blankets, and try not the think about Luke. That didn't work very well, especially because Michael's pillow still smelt faintly like Luke. More often than not, Michael would cry himself to sleep.

\-------------------------------------------

When Michael couldn't get Luke to talk to him, he went to the next closest thing, his brothers. Michael was terrified of Luke's brothers. Both of them were huge, and he didn't know what Luke had told them about him. Michael figured that Jack, being the younger and smaller one, was the better of the two to try to talk to. 

Michael pulled Jack aside in the hallway one day at school. 

"Uh?" Jack started. He was very confused as to why someone grabbed him in the hallway. His eyes met Michael's and he said, "Oh. It's you." 

"Uhmmmmm," Michael thought the plan was good in theory but now he didn't know what he should say to Jack. "Can I uh- talk to you?"

"Well saying that you already are..." Jack said, "You might as well continue." 

"Is he...Luke... Is he okay?" Michael asked quickly. 

"Is he okay physically? Yeah, he's fine. Is he okay emotionally? Not so sure. He won't even talk about it." Jack said. "I didn't know what the problem was, but now that you're here wondering about him I'm pretty sure you have something to do with it." 

"Yeah..." Michael mumbled, "I just- I need to talk to him, I need to explain myself. But he won't let me. I want to fix this- need to fix this." 

"I want you to fix it too. Whenever Luke is in one of his moods all he does it watch chic-flics. If I have to sit through another one of those movies I might punch a hole through the T.V..." Jack paused a moment. "I'll tell you what. Luke likes to go to this little cafe place before school sometimes. I'm sure you can catch him there at some point." 

After Michael got the cafe's name from Jack, he thanked him and left before Jack changed his mind about being nice. As one who never cared much about school anyways, Michael left school and walked home. He knew this was probably his only chance to fix what he did, and he didn't want to mess it up.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are always welcomed:)


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